Last week, while on a visit to Madison, WI, I traveled 45 minutes out of town and visited the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center.  The Legacy Center is a beautiful building built of wood from pine trees planted by Leopold.  The building has the highest LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating in the United States and It is the first carbon neutral building certified by LEED—meaning annual operations account for no net gain in carbon dioxide emissions.

Buddy Huffaker, the Executive Director of The Aldo Leopold Foundation, took me on a tour of the center.  We then went over to the Leopold Shack and I had the opportunity to see this famous landmark.  Buddy described the set-up of the Shack and showed me old photographs of the Leopold family and students at the Shack.  This short trip from Madison was well worth it.

I recommend a visit to the Leopold Center and Shack.  For additional information, please visit here.

Darryl Walter Wildlife tourism Aldo Leopold

The latest issue of The Wildlife Policy News was just posted. Included in this issue are updates on the FY 2009 Budget that was recently approved and the status on the FY 2010 Budget.

You can also read about the Teaming with Wildlife Act of 2009 (S.655) which would secure dedicated funding for state-level wildlife management and conservation efforts. The Act would use a portion of the royalties collected from mineral development on federal lands and outer continental shelf oil development to allocate states $350 million per year over five years (fiscal years 2011-2016).

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Boyce Thompson Arboretum near the historic copper-mining town of Superior, AZ, hosts the debut event of Arizona State Parks’ Aldo Leopold Centennial observance April 4, this Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Arizona and New Mexico, in conjunction with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, are hosting a year-long celebration of Aldo Leopold’s arrival in the southwest which happened in Springerville, Arizona in 1909.

Arizona State Parks is holding special centennial events throughout 2009, starting with the Arboretum’s on April 4 at 10 a.m.Among other activities that day Arboretum staff member Kim Stone will portray Aldo Leopold at this event speaking in character, leading a guided tour and participating with a “Where’s Aldo” geo-caching activity.There will also be activities for children in conjunction with the Arboretum’s “Arts in the Park” events also happening on April 4.Leopold was an ecologist, forester, and environmentalist.He was influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness preservation.Leopold’s most famous book, “A Sand County Almanac,” contains insightful and moving essays related to his Wisconsin experiences. His biography is called “Aldo Leopold: A Fierce Green Fire.”

Read about 2009 Aldo Leopold Centennial Celebration Events

Listen to an audio interview with Arizona Centennial Re-enactor Kim Stone:

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The Wildlife Society’s Awards Program honors individuals and groups who have made notable contributions to wildlife conservation. Please help us recognize deserving recipients by submitting your nominations for these awards. Please refer to each award description for deadlines and instructions on preparing your nominations.

With the exception of the Wildlife Publication and Conservation Education Awards, send nomination materials to:

The Wildlife Society – Awards Program
5410 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814 or email: yanin@wildlife.org

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